Rebekah Elmaloglou

Last updated

Rebekah Elmaloglou
Neighbours cast Meet and Greet (cropped).jpg
Born
Rebekah Sophie Elmaloglou

(1974-01-23) 23 January 1974 (age 51)
OccupationActress
Years active1984–present
Known for Neighbours (TV series) as Terese Willis
Home and Away (TV series) as Sophie Simpson
Spouse
Kane Baker
(m. 2009)
Children1
Relatives Sebastian Elmaloglou (brother)
Judi Dench (cousin)
Jeffery Dench (cousin)

Rebekah Sophie Elmaloglou (born 23 January 1974) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as teenage tearaway Sophie Simpson on Home and Away and Terese Willis on Neighbours . She also made guest appearances in E Street , A Country Practice and Pacific Drive . Her film appearances include Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Princess Kate (1988) and The Sum of Us (1994).

Contents

Early life

Elmaloglou was born at the Royal Women's Hospital, Paddington, New South Wales, to a Greek father, Gregory, who was principal cello in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and an English mother, Theresa, who was a kindergarten teacher. Her father was born in France. [1] Elmaloglou left school at the age of 15 and trained at the Keane Kids studios in Sydney, [2] where she studied acting, singing and dancing.

Career

Elmaloglou has appeared in numerous roles in various programmes and films such as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), [3] Five Times Dizzy (1986) and Jocelyn Moorhouse' debut film The Siege of Barton's Bathroom (1986), [4] Relatives, [3] In Too Deep (also known as Mack the Knife) (1989) and Love in Limbo (1993) [3] plus the 1988 telemovie Princess Kate . In 1989, she had a two-week guest stint as asthmatic street-kid Simone in E Street and immediately followed this with a regular role in Home and Away as Sophie Simpson (1990–1993). She left the soap in late 1992 and travelled to the UK to appear in a production of Cinderella during the pantomime season. [5] She later appeared in a production of Aladdin . [3]

Following Home and Away, Elmaloglou appeared alongside Russell Crowe in the Australian film The Sum of Us (1994), [3] and guest starred in A Country Practice as Christine Agapitos, a love interest for Gavin Harrison's character Hugo Strzelecki. [6] She relished filming The Sum of Us, and compared filming it to Home and Away:

"You feel like you're really acting and really doing something when you do film, because in television you're grinding your way through it. The moment you finish one script you're on to another one, and it just goes on and on and on. (In film) you have more time to work with it – not at it – and you spend more time talking to the director about the role and, yes, your best work comes out of a film and you feel that you can really show your talents as an actress." [3]

In 1994, she appeared on the stage at the Sydney Opera House in Caravan. [7] In a 1995 interview, she stated that she did not receive the offers she had anticipated after leaving Home and Away and that finding work was a struggle. Elmaloglou appeared in Pacific Drive in 1996 as a victim of incest, who dices with death when she turns to drugs. She appeared in an episode of Life Support as a "publicity whore". The actress later posed naked in a Gothic-themed set of photographs for the Australian celebrity nude art magazine Black+White .

On 7 February 2013, it was announced that Elmaloglou had joined the cast of Neighbours as Terese Willis, a role she remained in until the show's then-final episode on 28 July 2022. [8] [9] Elmaloglou continued in the part when Neighbours was picked up by Amazon Freevee in 2023.

Personal life

Dame Judi Dench is a cousin. [1] Two of Elmaloglou's brothers, Dominic and Sebastian Elmaloglou, have also appeared on Home and Away, plus she has a brother who is a crew member on the show'. [10]

When working on Home and Away (from 1990 to 1993), Elmaloglou frequently had panic attacks. [11] She was later diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder and has been open about her condition. [12]

Elmaloglou has been married to Kane Baker since 2009, and together they have a son born in 2008. [13] [14]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleType
1985 Lorca and the Outlaws (aka 'Starship")Little GirlFeature film
1985 Relatives RebeccaFeature film
1985 Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome GathererFeature film
1986The Siege of Barton's BathroomShort film
1988 Touch The Sun: Princess Kate May MathiesonTV film
1988 Fragments of War: The Story of Damien Parer HelenaTV film
1990 In Too Deep JojoFeature film
1993 Love in Limbo Feature film
1994 The Sum of Us Jenny JohnsonFeature film
1995 Back of Beyond Susan MacGregorFeature film
2007U-TurnCar Chick 1Short film

Television

YearTitleRoleType
1986Professor Poopsnagle's Steam ZeppelinChildTV series, 1 episode
1986 Five Times Dizzy Mareka NikakisTV series, 12 episodes
1987; 1993 A Country Practice Belinda PerkinsTV series, 2 episodes
1988 Emma: Queen of the South Seas Young EmmaTV miniseries, 2 episodes
1989 E Street SimoneTV series, 4 episodes
1991 Adventures on Kythera TikTV series, 13 episodes
1991–1993, 2005 Home and Away Sophie Simpson Series regular
1993 A Country Practice Christina AgapitosTV series, 5 episodes
1994 G.P. LeanneTV series, 1 episode
1994 Paradise Beach Karen WolfeTV series, 1 episode
1996 Pacific Drive Eliza GarlandTV series, 1 episode
1999 Water Rats Christina ManganoTV series, 1 episode
2000; 2001 All Saints Justine AddisonTV series, 2 episodes
2003 Life Support Penne's publicity partnerTV series, 1 episode
2013–present Neighbours Terese Willis Series regular
2016 Summer Stories Terese WillisWebseries
2017 Pipe Up Terese WillisWebseries
2017 Neighbours vs Time Travel Terese WillisWebseries
2018Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and AwaySophie SimpsonTV movie

Theatre

YearTitleRoleType
1983 The Sound of Music MartaAustralian tour
1992 Cinderella Cinderella Sunderland Empire Theatre, United Kingdom
1993 Aladdin Aladdin De Montfort Hall Leicester, United Kingdom, Inverness, Scotland
1994Theatresports
1994Caravan Sydney Opera House
1997–98Wogboys Enmore Theatre, Sydney, IMB Theatre, Wollongong
2001 The Vagina Monologues Sydney

References

  1. 1 2 Gilmore, Heath (7 May 1994). "Rebekah Plays The Waiting". The Sun-Herald . Fairfax Media. p. 143. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  2. "Home". keanekids.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wingett, Fiona (13 November 1993). "She's Alright Jack!". TV Week . pp. 12–13.
  4. Leerentveld, Erwin (6 July 2022). "Bartons on the Web". Bartons on the Web. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  5. Stanley, Di (17 April 1993). "Home or Away?". TV Week . pp. 12–13.
  6. Williams, Glen (21 August 1993). "Rebekah's country comfort". TV Week . pp. 8–9.
  7. "Theatre Directory". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 July 1994.
  8. Kilkelly, Daniel (7 February 2013). "'Neighbours' to introduce another new family". Digital Spy . Hearst Magazines UK . Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  9. "Olympia Valance and Rebekah Elmaloglou farewell Neighbours". Greek Herald. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  10. "Neighbours star on Home and Away response to show axe". Digital Spy . 17 July 2022.
  11. Browne, Rachel (1 July 1995). "The soapie scrapheap". The Sun-Herald . Fairfax Media . Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  12. Kent, Simon (8 March 1998). "The Diary". The Sun-Herald . Fairfax Media. p. 26. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  13. "Rebekah's joy: I'm having a baby". Woman's Day. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 April 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  14. "Rebekah's gorgeous garden wedding". Woman's Day. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.